Alexis Winchester - What Is And Should Never Be
by Emerald Princess 14
Summary: A one-shot on the Supernatural episode - What Is And Should Never Be - with Sam, Dean and Alexis.


**Author's Note:**

Hi guys! This is a one-shot for my series, **Alexis Winchester**, on episode 20 of Season 2 of Supernatural.

Please review guys, your feedback would be greatly appreciated :) Enjoy!

Please also check out my story **Alexis Winchester** which you can find by clicking on my profile link!

Also, this one-shot is dedicated to sammygrrl00 who requested it. Thank-you so much for your support!

**Disclaimer:** I do not own the Supernatural series or any of the characters which appear in the series including Sam and Dean. I do own the character of Alexis in this story.

* * *

**Alexis Winchester**

**What Is And Should Never Be**

Jeanie. Jeanie. Jeanie.

I picked up my phone and hit speed dial, putting my feet up on Sam's chair while he peeked out the window. It rang once before Dean picked up.

"Yeah?" he asked.

"So," I flipped through the book on my lap. "I never watched 'I Dream Of Jeannie'. Did you?" I asked him. He chuckled on the other end.

"Barbara Eden? Ooh, she was the only good thing in that movie. Why?" he asked me. Before I could answer, Sam snatched my phone right of my hand and went back to the window. I just stared at him while he peeked through the curtains again.

"Dude, I was on the phone! Do you mind?" I asked slamming the book shut and walking to the kitchen for comfort food.

"Shut up." He told me. "There's a cop car outside." He said to Dean after the put the phone on speaker.

"You think it's for us?" Dean asked him. I rolled my eyes. I couldn't have been for us… I had planned our getaway after the prison job and I was good at what I did.

"I don't know." Sam replied, watching the car.

"I don't see how. I mean we ditched the plates, the credit cards." Dean assured him. I reached into the shopping bags and found the breakfast bars. Bingo. The cop car pulled away from the motel and I shook my head at Sam.

"They're leaving. False alarm." He breathed a sigh of relief. No shit Sam.

"You see. Nothing to worry about." Dean replied happily as I sat back down at the table pulling one of the open books towards me.

"Yeah, being fugitives? Freaking dance party." Sam sighed and I threw my wrapper at the bin. It flew in front of Sam and just missed the trash. I looked goofily up at Sam and he rolled his eyes, cleaning up after me.

"Hey man, chicks dig the danger vibe." Dean remarked. I sat upright.

"You're on speaker!" I yelled clearly before he said something gross which would haunt my dreams.

"Hey ankle-biter." Dean laughed. I grinned at Sam who seemed in a bad mood, probably because he was tired. Turns out he didn't sleep much in prison of out fear of getting fondled by his ape cell mate. I didn't blame him.

"Hey." I replied to Dean and smiled as Sam took a seat beside me. "Sam's being a bitch. He stole my phone." I complained, the whole time keeping eye contact with Sam.

"Sam, quit being a bitch." Dean told him off like he'd solved the problem. Sam glared at me and I hurriedly got out of my seat and went to sit on the bed before he hurt me.

"So, you got anything yet?" Sam asked Dean, smirking at my discomfort.

"Are you kidding me? How could I? You got me sifting through like fifty square miles of real estate here." Dean replied.

"Well, that's where all the victims disappeared." Sam explained, scrunching up a piece of paper and throwing it at me. I rolled out of the way as it whizzed past my head.

"Yeah well, I got diddly-squat. What about you?" Dean asked.

"Just one thing. I'm pretty sure of it now." He pulled one of the books closer. "We're hunting a Djinn." He told Dean. I picked up the paper ball and hurled it back at Sam, hitting him squarely in the head.

"A freaking genie?" Dean asked, amused at the thought. Sam turned to look at me less than impressed. I got a little worried and suddenly wished Dean would hurry up and come back to the motel.

"Yeah." Sam said.

"What? You think these suckers can really grant wishes?" Dean asked. I kept my distance from Sam, knowing there was a plan brewing in his mind.

"I don't know. I guess they're powerful enough. But not exactly like Barbara Eden and the harem pants. I mean, Djinn have been feeding off people for centuries. They're all over the Koran." Sam replied, looking through more of the open books we'd left at the table.

"My God. Barbara Eden was hot, wasn't she? Way hotter than that Bewitched chick." Dean noted.

"Lies!" I yelled, always having a soft spot for Samantha and the Bewitched opening sequence.

"Oh yeah, I forgot the witch-lover was listening in." Dean remarked. I stood up and walked over to the phone in Sam's hand like I might actually get into a fist fight with Dean.

"Don't insult the dead Dean. My Samantha could take on your botoxed Barbie any day of the week." I challenged him. Sam put his hand on my face and pushed me back.

"Are you even listening to me?" he asked Dean, amused.

"Yeah. So uh, where do the Djinns lair at?" he asked as I plopped down beside Sam and took a bite of my breakfast bar.

"Ruins usually. Uh. Bigger the better, more places to hide." I said offering my bar to Sammy.

"Yeah, I think I saw a place couple miles back. I'm gonna go check it out." Dean told us. No, I wanted to go too.

"No, no, no, no. Come pick us up first." Sam told him, not wanting to miss out as well.

"Yeah, Sam might have killed me by then." I argued snatching the phone out of Sam's hand.

"No. I'm sure it's nothing. I just wanna take a look around." Dean assured us.

"Dean! I fear for my-" Dean hung up. "-life." I finished looking helplessly up at Sam. He smiled at me.

"You were saying?" he asked raising an eyebrow. I laughed uncomfortably as he crossed his arms and watched me.

"I… I think you're a swell guy." I stammered. Sam was having a little too much fun at my fear. He picked up his jacket and keys before walking towards the door.

"Come on, let's go for a walk." He told me, opening the door and waiting. I grabbed my jacket and slid out the door, Sam close behind.

"Why are we going for a walk?" I asked him walking backwards so I could see his face. He grabbed my shoulder and turned me around the right way.

"We're scoping for a ride." He informed me, looking around. It was dark out and raining. I didn't mind getting wet but it could become difficult to do anything effectively in this weather.

"Grand theft auto, Sammy? Look at you taking a turn for the worst." I teased, shoving him lightly.

"If Dean's gets his ass handed to him…" Sam directed me around the corner. "…and he will, then he needs backup." He explained.

"Smarty pants Sam, thinking ten steps ahead." I said looking up at him. He stopped in is tracks and looked down at me.

"Would you stop drawing attention?" he asked me pointedly, looking around.

"Sam, I can't help that I'm noticeable." I replied, winking at him. He rolled his eyes and kept walking.

"You're so full of it." He told me and I laughed.

"I know." I replied catching up to him. "By the way, in about a week I need to make a trip to Massachusetts to complete my practical assessments." He looked over at me. Completing a degree online was great for the most part but since I was completing a science based degree, I needed lab time too, hence the trip to campus.

"Right, how's everything going anyway?" he asked me. Sam and I had a joint interest in tertiary study and he was always ready to listen when I wanted to talk.

"Ah, it's all good. I'd tell you if I needed your help." I assured him. He smiled as we continued down the street.

"Don't I know it." He chuckled. "How long do you have to be there for? He asked.

"Um, about a week." I ran my hands through my damp hair.

"I still can't believe you're studying at Harvard." He shook his head in amusement. "Law at Stanford, Biomedical Science at Harvard… it's a picture perfect family." I looked over at the car park we were approaching and noticed a car worth stealing.

"Sasquatch, we are picture perfect." I said. It was no secret that the Winchesters were a good-looking bunch with and array of talents. I'd pick our crazy family over green lawns and white picket fences any day. "Check it Sammy." I said nodding over at the car. He glanced over and then looked around before crossing the street.

"Okay, we'll drop you off whenever you need." Sam assured me. He pulled out the metal wire and slipped it in between the window and the door. "In the meantime, let's go find this damn Djinn." The car clicked open and we both slipped in discretely. "You packing?" he asked me.

I scoffed at him. Of course I was armed… I was always armed.

"What kind of question is that?" I asked him pulling aside my jacket and revealing my silver and chrome gun.

"Just checking." He defended himself as he hotwired the car. My skin tingled with excitement… finally, a hunt.

* * *

**Dean**

Blue hand.

I woke up panting. Where was the Djinn? There was a black and white movie playing on the T.V. and I was sitting in bed, shirtless. What the hell just happened? The last thing I remembered was walking into that old warehouse alone and getting jumped by the bald Jeanie. Had I been dreaming?

Then I noticed the hot chick tangled in sheets beside me. I leaned over her, trying to see her face. She was a beautiful brunette with tanned, flawless skin. I had no idea who she was or where I was. I quietly got out of bed and went to put some clothes on. I had to find Sam or Lex and warn them about the Djinn or at least get them to come find me.

I moved into the modern living room and went to find my phone. I tried to keep quiet so I didn't wake up the brunette beauty in bed while I searched through my call history and found Sam Winchester rather than Sammy. It was strange but I didn't think twice about it.

"Dean?" he asked me when he picked up. Thank God he was okay. If he was okay, then Lex was with him and she was fine too.

"Sam?"

"What's going on?" he asked me.

"I don't know. I don't know where I am." I explained to him as I walked around house, trying to look for clues.

"What? What happened?" he asked again.

"The uh, the Djinn. It attacked me." I replied, running a hand down my face.

"The gin? You're... drinking gin?" he asked, slightly amused. Seriously Sam, now was not the time to be joking around.

"No, asshat. The Djinn. The uh, scary creature. Remember?" I told him, exasperated. "It put its hand on me and I woke up next to some hot chick..." I explained, peeking around the corner to make sure she wasn't awake. I had no idea what to tell her if she did wake up.

"Who? Carmen?" Sam laughed. Carmen? How the hell did he know her name?

"Who?" I asked.

"Dean, you're drunk. You're drunk-dialing me." He told me. Now I was getting angry. I needed his damn help and he was doing anything but that.

"I'm not drunk. Quit screwing around!" I whispered harshly.

"Look, it's late. Alright, just get some sleep and I'll... see you tomorrow. OK?" he told me before hanging up.

"Wait, Sam! Sam!" I whispered louder, before checking my phone. The call had disconnected. Why was he being such a dick? I needed to call Lex if Sam wasn't going to help me out here. I looked around the apartment and noticed a stack of mail sitting on the table. First things first, I needed to figure out where I was.

I picked up the first envelope addressed to a 'Carmen Porter' at 53 Baker Ave, Lawrence, Kansas.

"Lawrence?" I muttered, confused. I was in Lawrence? The next two envelopes were addressed to me but at the same address as Carmen's. Since when did I get mail and even if I did, why the hell was it addressed to Lawrence alongside some chick I didn't know?

"What the hell?" I put the envelopes down.

"Honey? What are you doing up?" I spun around to see Carmen waiting at the bedroom door, wearing a blue robe. Damn, she was up and she was walking towards me.

"Hey. Carmen. Carmen, uh, I just uh..." I stammered trying to think of something to say.

"Aw, you can't sleep, huh?" she filled in for me. Perfect.

"Yeah." I smiled as she looped her arms around my neck.

"Well, why don't you come back to bed and let's see if I can do anything to help." She suggested. My dirty mind went on field day. Damn, I liked her. I liked her a lot.

"Sure." I agreed happily, distracted by her lips. "Yeah. In a minute. You - you go ahead." She smiled at me.

"OK. Don't stay up too long." She told me, stroking my neck.

"No." I assured her and she leaned in to kiss me. I was too shocked to do anything other than kiss her back before she turned around and walked back to the bedroom. She looked back once before disappearing into the room and I offered her a fake smile. This was getting way too weird. I walked over to the shelves and looked through the framed photos of myself and Carmen. We'd obviously known each other a long time even though I didn't remember a god damn thing. I turned around, frustrated at my situation, and my eye caught a photo on my desk.

I walked closer and picked it up, not believing what I was seeing. No way. I dropped the photo and rushed to the door, with a new destination in mind. If this was real, I'd be the happiest man alive.

* * *

It had been some time since I'd been to our old house but seeing it again never stopped me from thinking about that night when all this began. The hunting and revenge, all of it originated from that nursery… but that wasn't why I was here.

I parked the Impala across the street and walked right up to our old house. It felt like I was chasing a dream and I hoped to God it was true. I rang the doorbell a few times and knocked until finally, the porch light turned on and the door opened.

My breath left me.

Mom.

I had to be dreaming because there was no way that mom was standing in front of me.

"Dean." She said my name and my heart fluttered at her voice. It was just like I remembered it was more than twenty years ago; soft and angelic, like nothing could hurt you in her presence. I wanted to cry, not knowing what to do with her actually before me.

"Mom?" I asked, scared she'd disappear. She looked at me, concerned.

"What are you doing here?" she asked before reaching out and placing her hand on my arm. I flinched back, watching were she was touching me, not believing it was real. "Are you alright?" she asked me. I just stared at her, not sure what to do.

"I don't know." I replied honestly. She grabbed my arm and pulled me towards her.

"Well... come inside." She told me, leading me into the house and shutting the door. I couldn't keep my eyes off her, she was so beautiful. "Carmen just called and said you just took off all of a sudden." She told me, walking into the living room.

"Carmen?" I asked, barely comprehending what she was saying. I had to know mom was real, I had to know she wasn't something else. "Right... Let me ask you a question. When I was a kid, what did you always tell me when you put me to bed? I asked her, desperately wanting her to give me the right answer.

"Dean, I don't understand-"

"Just answer the question." I interrupted her sternly, not wanting to get ahead of myself.

"I told you angels are watching over you." She answered smiling. I couldn't believe it. It was really her.

"I don't believe it." I muttered walking over to her and enveloping her in my arms tightly. Her scent came rushing back to me, reminding me of when I was four again. She put her arms around me and rubbed my back.

"Honey, you're scaring me." She said softly and I let go so I could see her face. "Now just tell me what's going on." She told me, that concerned look never leaving her face.

"You don't think that wishes can, can really..." I stopped realizing I didn't care if this was a dream. I'd live here happily, forever.

"What?" mom asked, still confused.

"Forget it." I chuckled before pulling her into another hug. "I'm just uh... I'm happy to see you, that's all." I told her. The tears were about to fall; I had dreamed of this moment for years. I pulled myself together and released mom from my embrace, looking down at her face. "You're beautiful." I told her, laughing a little. I had wanted to say that to her for years and had never gotten a chance.

"What?" she asked smiling. I looked down and around me, trying to figure out how this had happened.

"Hey, when I was uh... When I was young was there ever a fire here?" I asked her, walking towards the wall with all the books and photos.

"No. Never." She replied walking towards me.

"I thought there was." I said noticing the picture of mom, dad, myself, Sammy and baby Lex. "I guess I was wrong." There was another picture of me in a cap looking into the camera like I was the coolest kid on the block. There was picture of me at prom, Sam and Lex as graduates, although Lex looked a little different, and then there was a picture of Dad which I picked up. He was wearing a baseball uniform with a cap and he had a baseball bat in his hand, ready to swing, smiling at the camera. I'd never seen dad as anything but a hunter.

"Dad's on a softball team." I turned around to see mom looking at me, a serious look on her face. I didn't want to scare her with my strange behavior. "Dad's... Dad's softball team. It's... That's funny to me." I explained.

"He loved that stupid team." She said quietly.

What?

"Dad's dead?" I asked, looking at her face. The concern grew on her face. "And the thing that killed him was a..." I half-asked.

"A stroke." Mom said slowly. "He died in his sleep, you know that." What did you know, dad died in peace. No demons, no monsters.

"That's great." I said quietly to myself. Mom heard.

"Excuse me?" she asked, raising her eyebrows.

"That - that's great. That he went peacefully, I mean. That... that sure beats the alternative." I said slowly, putting the photo back. Mom sighed quietly.

"You've been drinking." She stated.

"No, I haven't. Mom." I told her truthfully.

"I'm just gonna call Carmen and have her come pick you up, OK?" she told me reaching from the phone.

"Wait. No, no!" My hand shot out and stopped her from picking it up. "Don't - don't do that. Don't do that. I wanna stay here." I told her. I didn't know this Carmen. I knew mom and I wanted to be here, with her.

"Why?" she asked me confused.

"Because I-I miss the place. It's OK, you - you go to bed. OK?" I told her, walking past her and sitting on the couch. I looked around at the living room, remembering running around here when I was young. Mom walked over and stroked my face. I couldn't help my heart from skipping beats when she touched me.

"Are you sure you're alright?" she asked, smiling at me. I loved that smile.

"I think so." I replied, looking up at her.

"OK." She whispered before bending down and kissing my forehead. Her warmth spread all over and I leaned towards her as she pulled away, not wanting her to leave. She walked around the couch and I spun around, keeping her in my vision. She stopped by the door and leaned against the wall.

"Get some rest. I love you." She told me, smiling. I'd wanted to hear those words from her lips as long as I could remember. She was still here, she hadn't vanished.

"Me too." I replied, perplexed. She smiled again and left, while I sat on the couch, taking in what had just happened.

Was this really happening?

* * *

I woke up to the sound of birds singing outside. After blinking a few times I noticed the photo of mom, dad, Sammy, Lex and myself dressed in matching Christmas sweaters as kids. Dad was wearing a Santa hat and smiling in the family picture, which just reminded me of where I was. I had thought it was a dream.

I sat up confused, still on mom's couch and still in Lawrence. I had to talk to Sam or Lex. I called Sam first and got his voicemail. When I called Lex the same thing happened. Where the hell were these two?

I made a quick trip down to the university and spoke to one of the professors about Djinn's. He had told me that the Djinn had Godlike powers and that they could alter reality however they wanted; past, present or future. My curiosity was met by the universal question of whether I'd been drinking.

I walked back down to the Impala and opened the trunk to see no arsenal but instead old magazines, paper cups and a rag. This sight alone would have killed Lex. That girl loved weapons a little too much.

"Who'd have thought, baby. We're civilians." I laughed, closing the trunk and looking across the street.

There was a girl in a white shirt, skirt and shoes staring at me… the way ghosts stare. Her arms were by her side and she wasn't moving. I began walking towards her, since she looked like she needed help.

A loud horn scared the shit out of me and I jumped as a red car screeched to a halt, barely missing me. I hadn't realized I was on the street. When I looked back, she was gone.

Maybe I was imagining her.

* * *

Mom had made me a sandwich.

It was the best damn sandwich I'd ever eaten in my whole damn life. I took a huge bite out of the deli goddess and moaned as the taste filled my mouth.

"This is the best sandwich, ever!" I called to mom, with my mouth full. She was in pantry doing something while I sat at the table.

"Thank you." She replied, a smile in her voice.

"I tried to get hold of Sam earlier. Where - where - where is he?" I asked her, wiping my mouth with napkin. She had to know where my giant of a brother was.

"Oh. He'll be here soon." She told me walking to the fridge.

"Good. Dying to see him." I said; food still in my mouth. "And Lex?" I asked her. She looked over at me, a little confused.

"Lex?" she asked, like I should have known where she was. I nodded, taking another bite out of the sandwich. "She called earlier and told me she'd be here in…" she leaned over to see the clock on the wall. "… about five minutes." I smiled, wanting to see Lex too. "She's got the day off work and so she said she'd come over."

That made me very happy. Lex loved mom, Sam and I both knew that but it kind of sucked that she had no connection to our old house, seeing as she never lived here. I loved the fact that Lex could have this life.

"Sweetie, I... Don't get me wrong." Mom said breaking my train of thought as she walked towards me and sat at the table. "I am thrilled you are... hanging out here... all of a sudden." She stroked my chin and I smiled. "But uh... shouldn't you be at work?"

"Work?" I asked. What kind of job did I have?

"At the garage." She told me. I blinked a few times, taking that in.

"Right. The garage. It's where I work, yeah. No, I-I've got the day off." I snickered. "Good thing." I muttered, taking another bite of the sandwich. The sound of a car pulling into the driveway made both mom and I look up.

"That's Lex." She said getting up. "Go help her out and I'll be out in second." She told me. Help her out with what? I reluctantly put the sandwich down and made my way to the door. The car parked in front of the house was a shiny, black 65 Ford Mustang. I smiled at Lex's choice in cars, impressed and proud.

The door opened and out stepped Lex.

I froze.

She was wearing a just above knee-length floral dress. I hadn't seen Lex in a dress, in years. She was always going on about how she needed to be ready to fight and dresses never allowed her to move properly. She always preferred jeans, a T-shirt and one her countless hoodies to anything floral or flowing.

On top of that, she looked different. He skin was less tanned, not the golden shade she usually was but instead, my color. The most notable change was the lack of her dark curls. Sure her hair was still curly-wavy but it was five shades too light. She had dark brown hair, similar to Sam's color rather than her regular dark brown-black color. Why the hell did she look so different?

She shut the door behind her and pulled her sunglasses off as she approached me.

"Hey Dean." She said smiling as she walked into my arms. She was still a hugger, even in this reality. I held her tight, grateful that she was alright.

"Nice ride." I told her, pointing to the car. She laughed as she pulled away and walked around to other side of the car.

"Yes Dean, I'll forever be grateful that you helped me pick it out." She winked before opening the back door and reaching in. She must have had some stuff in the back that mom wanted me to carry. I followed her around as she emerged with something in her arms.

I could have had a heart attack.

I felt like I was having a heart attack.

My face felt hot, my vision went blurry and I had trouble standing straight. I really, really hoped I was hallucinating.

Lex had a baby in her arms.

"Oh, sweetheart." Mom appeared and walked past me, where I stood frozen and up to Lex, hugging her before taking the baby out of her arms. "How's my little pumpkin?" she said in a strange voice, holding it up before kissing the moving lump.

No, this could not be happening.

"He's been good today." Lex told mom, both of them smiling at the baby.

"Who… who… whose b..baby is that?" I asked, barely getting the words out. Lex pulled out a diaper bag and handed it to me.

"Very funny Dean. By the way, why aren't you at work? Riley didn't say anything about you having the day off." She shut the door as mom walked into the house with the baby that I hoped to God wasn't my baby sister's.

"Whose baby is that?" I asked again, more firmly this time, sticking my arm out and not letting Lex pass. I was going to get some damn answers and I was going to get them now. My recently turned twenty year old sister DID NOT have a baby. She could not have a baby at this age. She gave me a strange look.

"Mine." She replied slowly. Oh, I was going to be sick. "Did you have a late night?" she asked me. I stood in front of her and grabbed her shoulders.

"How… how, how do you have a baby at twenty?" I asked her, fuming. She looked at me like I was crazy.

"I am not teaching you about the birds and bees, Dean. I'm sure you are more than familiar with that process." She grimaced. Right. Of course. It took two people to make a baby, meaning some dirt-bag was part of this equation.

"Who is he?" I demanded, the rage building up inside of me. I was going to beat this guy black and blue until the only thing left was mush. I was going to _kill_ him. Lex put her hands on mine and I noticed the silver band on her left ring finger.

No, no, no, no, no, no, NO.

"I don't know if you've been drinking Dean," she said slowly, "but I'm twenty-three years old and Riley is the father of our son, James." She patted my hand. "You okay?" she asked, stepping around me. Twenty three? How was she so old? That made her a year younger than Sam. And she was married? With a kid? Something was very wrong.

"Come on, let's go inside." She offered, leading me to the front door. I numbly followed her trying to do the math in my head.

"When...when's your birthday?" I asked her as we walked into the house, trying to ignore the fact that she was a mother. Oh god, that still hit me hard.

"You _have_ been drinking." She noted. "June fourteenth, 1984. That's my birthday." She added taking the bag from me and placing it next to the couch. That meant Lex was born seven months after the fire should have killed mom. It meant Lex was old enough to be married and have a baby boy.

This was all happening too fast for me.

"Dean, is everything okay?" Lex's voice pierced my thoughts. I turned to her, still shocked. She seemed very concerned. She may have been three years older and a mother, but I was still her older brother and that face would always set me straight.

"Yeah, everything's fine." I walked over and tried to reassure her. "I'm having a little trouble accepting the fact that my ankle-biter has her own ankle-biter." I said gruffly, trying to find my voice.

"Ankle-biter?" she asked me, confused. I guess I didn't call her that here, wherever here was.

"Never mind." I said. She nodded slowly and then walked into the kitchen, me following closely behind, where mom had the baby.

I sat back down at my sandwich in a daze as mom played with baby James. Lex grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge and went to pull out a high chair which I hadn't noticed before. She set it up and sat beside me. Both she and mom looked so happy and it almost made me forget that Lex was so grown up.

Mom stood up and walked over to me with the baby.

"Uncle Dean didn't say hi, did he James?" Mom smiled at me as she handed me the rug rat. I panicked instantly. The last baby I'd ever held was Lex and I was way out of practice.

"Mom, I don't think-" I started but she wasn't listening. The baby was in my arms and looking up at me with his big eyes. Holy crap. Lex started laughing at me and I looked up, glaring at her.

"You run around with him like he's a football and today you want to be gentle?" she asked watching my rigid arms. I looked back down at the lump. The kid was cute and had Lex's eyes. I wasn't exactly thrilled about the current situation but I had a feeling that given time, James would grow on me. After all, he was my, I didn't want to say it, nephew. I felt sick again thinking about the fact that Lex was a mom.

Who the hell was this Riley I knew nothing about? And how on earth did I let him get close enough to Lex in the first place?

"So… um, Riley. Is he coming around anytime soon?" I asked Lex, wanting to know how quickly I could deal with this guy. Lex reached over and wiped the drool off James' face. I sat perfectly still, not wanting to risk dropping him.

"He'll be here tonight." She answered, smiling at the thought of him. I just stared at her; unable to believe how much had happened in her life. "What?" she asked, noticing that I was staring. I looked back down at James, who I had seated in my lap. He was sucking his fist like it was the most fascinating thing he'd ever come across.

"Nothing." I replied. Lex wasn't a hunter but she was happy. I'd never had to face the fact that someday she might get married and start a family but here she had. It would take some time to get used to but eventually, I guess I could live with this. This was a safe life.

"Hey, Sam's here." Mom called from the window. Finally. I offered James to Lex, hoping she'd take him. She just looked at me.

"What?" she asked, getting up.

"Take him." I told her. She laughed again.

"You're kidding me. You wrestle my kid out of my arms every single time I see you, Dean. Just bring him with you." She told me again. So I gathered I was attached to Lex's kid.

"Please." I begged her. She rolled her eyes and reached out to pick him up. He laughed as soon as he saw her face and I smiled. Maybe this wasn't so bad. I grabbed my beer and made my way to the door.

Lex and I walked outside to see Sam emerge from his car and my eyes widened when I saw who was getting out of the passenger side. I walked up to her and hugged her tight, not believing my eyes.

"Jessica." I laughed pulling her into a hug. She gasped in my hold and hugged me back. Sammy walked around the back and pulled out the luggage from the trunk. I noticed he was in a college boy outfit, looking like a completely sophisticated goody two shoes.

"You're, uh... Good to see you too, Dean." I laughed at her confused response, so happy that she was alive. "Can't breathe." She gasped and I let her go.

"Sammy." I smiled turning to him as he got closer.

"Hey." He smiled and I slapped him on the shoulder.

"Look at you." I said happily. "You're with Jessica, it's - I don't believe it." I laughed. He gave me a strange look, still smiling though, before glancing at Jess.

"Yeah." He replied.

"Where'd you guys come from?" I asked, noticing Lex hadn't come out yet.

"We just flew in from... Califor-" he started.

"California!" I interrupted. Sammy was a college boy after all. "Stanford. Huh? Law school, I bet." Sam smiled and looked down at the beer in my hand.

"I see you started off Mom's birthday with a bang as usual." He said motioning to the beer. Holy shit. It was mom's birthday?

"Wait. Mom's birthday, that's today?" I asked, my face falling.

"Yeah. Yeah, Dean. That's today." Sam looked at me a little disappointed. "That's why we're here. Don't tell me you forgot." He said slowly.

"Wha..." I didn't know what to say. Sam glanced behind me and his face lit right up.

"Lex." He smiled walking past me and wrapping his arms around her and James. Jess followed him and kissed Lex on the cheek before taking James from her.

"Look at how big he's gotten." Jess said to Sam while he kept his arm around Lex and let James hold his finger. "Hey big guy." Jess bounced him a little.

"How was your flight?" Lex asked them both.

"Smooth sailing." Sam replied, stroking James' head. "He's so happy." He noted. Jess began moving towards the house, holding James tight.

"Of course he is." She cooed. "He's a little angel." Sam and Lex began following her in.

"Dean, you coming?" Lex asked. I nodded lightly and rubbed my hand over my face. This was a lot to take in.

* * *

I had driven home, gotten ready, picked up Carmen and now I was back at the house. Sammy and Jess were staying with mom so they had settled in and we were all going out for mom's birthday dinner. The girls and mom were upstairs with Lex and James, still getting ready, while Sam and I waited in the kitchen. I handed him a soda from the fridge and leant against the counter.

"Sammy, help me out here." He looked up at me. "This Riley… what's he like?" I asked trying to gauge why I hadn't killed him already or at least Sam hadn't. Sam gave me a strange look.

"Why are you asking me, you know him better than I do." Sam replied. Great, nobody was helping me out here.

"Let's assume I didn't know him. How's he come off to you?" I asked again, taking a sip from the soda. I was trying to demonstrate to the family that I wasn't an alcoholic. Sam chuckled before looking at me.

"Listen, I don't know what's up with you lately but Riley's a great guy." He told me, "What difference does it make now? Lex and Riley, they're married and they have a baby." Sam pointed out at I barely stopped myself from spitting out my drink. I still wasn't used to hearing that. I looked accusingly at Sam.

"How?" I asked exasperated. "How did we let her get married?!" I asked still not understanding how I'd allowed it. Lex must have been at least twenty-two when she got married and in my books, that was still too young. Sam put his drink down and stood up straighter.

"You tell me, Dean. You're the one that introduced the two of them." Sam accused.

I couldn't believe it. I was the idiot that got these together?

"What?" I asked quietly. Sam shook his head.

"You and Riley have been working together at the garage for years now. I had a problem with him dating Lex back when she was in high school but it's different now." Sam explained. "All I want is Lex to be happy and she is. She and Riley are great together and now they have James. I have no problem with it anymore." He told me. So Riley worked with me and for some craptastic reason, I thought he'd be a good match for Lex. I had no one left to blame.

* * *

**Lex**

"Damn it Dean!" I yelled shutting the phone. This must have been the fiftieth time I'd called and I'd officially used up all his voicemail space. I didn't even have his GPS code, so I couldn't track his phone. Sam sighed turning back onto the main road after searching the fourth side road we'd come across and there was still no sign of Dean.

"I told him to come pick us up." Sam muttered from beside me. I sighed, calling Dean's number again.

"The 'I told you so' isn't going to help us find him." I replied, looking out my window for any sign of the Impala. When I found him, I was going to kill him.

* * *

**Dean**

There was a knock on the door. Sam went to answer so I followed him, ready to meet Riley. I took a deep breath and we came face to face with the one guy I had been waiting to see.

"Hey Sam." Riley held out his hand and shook Sam's. I looked him over and noticed immediately that he was your typical bad boy. Yeah, he was all cleaned up and wearing a penguin suit but I could see past all that. Mechanic by trade and a heartbreaker by night. I knew because it was exactly what I was. He looked over and walked up to me to shake my hand.

"Man, where were you today?" he asked grabbing my hand. I smiled, holding his hand tight and crushing it in the process. He looked confused but didn't let his pain show.

"I took the day off." I replied. Riley was well built, around my height and fit. Physically it looked like he could take care of Lex but I still didn't see why I let him near her.

"Right." He replied, pulling his hand back and looking to Sam. "Did you get here okay?" he asked. Sam nodded and shut the door.

"Yeah, it was a good flight." He answered as Riley's eyes searched the house.

"Where's Lex?" he asked the both of us. No, no, he didn't get to ask the questions.

"Here." We turned to the stairs where Lex was walking down with James. Riley met her at the bottom of the stairs and pulled her in for a kiss. The soda can almost exploded in my hand.

"Hey there." Riley smiled as he took James from Lex. "Did you miss me?" he asked the baby. Lex smiled as she adjusted her black dress.

"Not with Jess and Carmen around." She replied frowning at Sam. "You two spoil him rotten." she accused the both of us.

"Hey, what are uncles for?" Sam replied. I continued to watch Riley and Lex. He stayed by her side and she looked so comfortable in his presence. I hated to say it but they seemed happy.

Just fucking brilliant.

* * *

We were at the restaurant sitting around a large round table. I had Lex sitting to the left of me and the baby between her and Riley. Carmen sat on my right with Sam beside her, trapping me from escaping the hideous, organic mutation that was being served to me.

"Wow, that... looks awesome." I said uneasily. My discomfort was met by light laughter and I hated that no one was taking this disgrace to food seriously.

"Alright. To Mom." Sam said raising his glass of champagne. I noticed Lex had a glass of lemonade instead, still not drinking alcohol. When would she embrace the Winchester lifestyle? "Happy birthday."

"Happy birthday." Jess and Riley repeated.

"Thank you." Mom smiled as the glasses clinked together. James giggled from his high chair and mom's face lit up. Jess leaned over and kissed Sam. I was so happy for Sammy and the fact he had Jess. I looked over at Lex and Riley who were making James wave at mom. No amount of alcohol was going to make me like Riley any better.

"I was really worried about you last night." Carmen leaned in and told me.

"Oh I'm... I'm good. I'm really good." I told her truthfully.

"OK. What do you say, later we get you a cheeseburger?" Happiness flooded me at the thought.

"Oh God, yes." I whispered and she smiled. "How did I end up with such a cool chick?" I asked her.

"I just got low standards." She replied. She was perfect. I laughed and leaned over to kiss her.

"Alright. Jess and I actually have another surprise for mom's birthday. Ah... You wanna tell 'em?" he asked Jess.

"They're your family." Jess replied smiling. Mom watched them with excitement creeping on her face.

"Alright." Sam chuckled.

"What? Tell me what?" Mom asked excitedly. Sam held up Jessica's left hand to show the engagement ring on her finger. My little brother was getting married.

"Oh my God! That's so wonderful." Mom exclaimed standing up and hugging Jessica. Lex nudged me as we stood up.

"Looks like we're going in reverse." she smiled tapping on her ring before hugging Sam. Riley picked up James and went to congratulate Jessica who hugged them both. It looked like the in-laws got along really well, not something I was used to, growing up with John Winchester as your dad and all.

"Congrats Sam. It's about time." Lex pulled away from him and leaned against the chair.

"Congratulations Sammy." I shook his hand unable to wipe the grin off my face.

"Thanks." He replied.

"I'm really glad you're happy." I told him and Lex smirked at Sam, probably because whatever I was doing was out of character. Something white behind Sam caught my eye. That girl I'd seen at the university was here, except this time she was filthy. Her hair was tangled and dirty, her clothes ragged and her face drained of life. I brushed past Sam wanting to talk to her before she disappeared. As I got closer, I paused allowing a waiter to pass but when I looked up, she'd vanished.

She was crying out for help. Why else would I see her? I turned back around to seem my family staring at me, confused and concerned.

* * *

Dinner was over and we walked back into mom's house. I was ready for an after party judging by how happy I was at this whole situation.

"So, Dean, what was uh... what was all that back at the restaurant?" Sam asked me quietly as mom shut the door.

"Ah... I-I thought I saw someone. Sure it's nothing." I replied as Lex came to stand beside me. I took James out of her arms and smiled at him. I was that happy.

"Well, I had a lovely birthday. Thank you. Good night." Mom waved. We collectively said good night to her as she walked up the stairs.

"Yeah, well I'm beat." Sam announced turning to Jessica. "Ready to turn in? He asked her.

"Sure." She replied. Hold on.

"Alright. Good night guys." Sam told us before leaning towards James and kissing him on the head.

"Wait a second. Wait a second. Come on, it's not even nine o'clock yet." I said looking to them and bouncing James. "Let's uh... Let's go have a drink or something." I suggested.

"Yeah, maybe another time." Sam replied.

"Come on, man. Look at us. Huh? We have beautiful women on our arms. You're engaged. Lex has a kid. Let's go celebrate." I urged. Riley chuckled and looped his arm around Lex. It took everything I had in me not to rip his arm right off.

"Guys, can you excuse us? I just want to talk to my brother for a sec." Sam said softly to Jess and Carmen.

"Sure." Jess replied looking to Riley. He took James from me and put his other arm around Carmen.

"Let's get some coffee in you huh?" he asked her as they headed out.

"Thanks." Sam turned back to Lex and I. "Come here." He said walking to other side of the living room. We followed him, me looking confused and Lex looking like she'd done this before.

"What?" I asked them.

"OK. What's gotten into you?" Sam asked me.

"What do you mean?" I asked confused.

"I mean this whole warm, fuzzy ecstasy trip thing." Sam replied looking to Lex for back-up. She didn't say anything.

"I'm just happy for you, Sammy." I explained, smiling.

"Yeah, right. That's another thing. Since when do you call me Sammy?" he asked." Dean, come on. We don't talk outside of holidays." He told me. Wait, what?

"Sam, embrace the love." Lex smiled, lightly pushing him.

"We don't? Wait, does Lex talk to you?" I asked pointing to her. She nodded.

"Yeah Dean, Lex has always talked to me." He told me. "You and I don't really talk."

"Well, we should. I mean, you're my brother." I told him irritated that Sam and Lex got along better than I did.

"'You're my brother'?" Sam scoffed.

"Yeah." I laughed in response.

"You know, that's what you said when you snaked my ATM card, or when you bailed on my graduation, or when you hooked up with Rachel Nave." He said softly. Who the hell was Rachel Nave?

"Who?" I asked.

"Uh, my prom date." He replied. "On prom night." Well done Dean… royally screwing things up since 1979.

"Yeah, that does kinda sound like me." I mumbled. "Whoa, hey man, I'm sorry about all that." I apologized walking towards him and he backed away from me.

"No that, look, that's alright man, I-I just... You know I'm not asking you to change. I-I just I... I don't know, I... guess we just don't really have anything in common. You know?" he explained. We stood in silence for a moment. Like hell we didn't have a lot in common. Sam walked past me and I grabbed his arm, turning him around.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. Yes we do. Yes we do." I told him, desperately clawing for any activity Sam and I had both enjoyed as kids.

"What?" Sam asked, glancing over at Lex who shrugged lightly, waiting for my answer.

"Hunting." I answered.

"Hunting?" he asked. "I've never been hunting in my life, Dean." Was that all we had in common? Hunting? There had to be something else we connected over.

"Yeah, well. We should go at it sometime." I turned to Lex who was watching me with an amused smile. "You too, I... I think you guys would be great at it." Sam moved further away and paused.

"Get some rest." He said quietly before leaving the room. I stared into empty space, trying to figure out when everything screwed up.

"Hunting. Really Dean?" Lex asked me, standing up. "I suck at darts and you want to put a gun in my hand?" she asked laughing a little. At least she hadn't changed. I thanked whoever was upstairs for keeping Lex and I on good terms… I wouldn't be able to deal with her keeping her distance from me like Sam was at the moment.

"Give me a couple hours with you and I think you'd turn out to be the dead-eye of the group." I told her, never forgetting that Lex was the most skilled of the three of us in fighting.

"That's the alcohol talking." She smiled at me. This drinking thing was getting irritating.

"I haven't had a drink since lunch." I told her seriously. "Anyways, Sammy and I... we don't get along." I stated thinking about how often Sam looked uncomfortable and moved away from me. Lex laughed and pulled me beside her as she sat on the couch.

"Well, you two never spent a lot of time together. I mean, you guys just don't know each other all that well." She explained. "For the record, I think you'd like each other more than either of you like me. It's all part of my plan to keep you two apart so I can soak up the attention." She grinned, leaning her head back on the cushion.

"You haven't lost your sense of humor." I mumbled to myself. She folded her legs to the side of the couch.

"That'll stay with me even when hell freezes over." She joked. That was all too true.

"I can fix things with Sam. I can make it up to him. To everyone." I said, staring at our family photos. "Hell, I can even get used to Riley and James." Lex scoffed at me.

"You love those two more than you love me." She pointed out. Yeah right... Sam and Lex were the most important things in my life.

"I doubt that." I replied with a sigh.

"Well then, I'd love to stay and swap war stories but I'm pretty sure you have work tomorrow just like Riley does." She said patting my knee. "And Carmen needs to get ready for her night shift." Lex looked at the clock. Why was Carmen going to work so late at night? "But Riley's probably serving her double espresso's so she'll be fine.

"She works nights at the, uh..." I paused hoping Lex would fill me in.

"… the hospital." Lex replied slowly. "Which reminds me, she needs to pick up my new scrubs from work." Whoa, Lex worked with Carmen?

"New scrubs?" I asked her.

"Well, I'm officially a medical intern now but I still have Carmen's nurse scrubs. I need the blue ones instead of the green ones." She replied. Carmen was a nurse and Lex was a medical intern. Holy crap.

"I'm dating a nurse." I sighed. "That is so... respectable." Lex grimaced.

"Yeah, I don't need to know about how you two play doctor." She mumbled getting up. "Riley should get going too." She added.

"Why? Aren't you two going home together?" I asked her, happy at the news. She looked back as she walked towards the kitchen.

"No, I'm still on leave so I'm staying here tonight. Riley starts early tomorrow anyway." She said, disappearing behind the wall.

This apple pie life wasn't all that bad.

* * *

**Lex**

Finally, we'd found the Impala. We'd been looking for a while now and the fact we knew that Dean had been at this warehouse was enough to make me ecstatic. Sam and I approached the tall metal fence and paused, trying to figure out how to pass.

"I bet you he jumped it." I said to Sam. I took a few steps back before running forward, kicking off the brick wall and climbing up and over in about five seconds. I landed in triumph on the other side, waiting for Sam to follow. He shook his head, walked to the gated door and pushed it open. He smiled, walking through and coming to my side.

"Or he picked the lock." Sam said patting my shoulder. I stared at the lock in disbelief.

Thanks Dean… thanks a lot.

* * *

**Dean**

I had to kill this Djinn.

I had spent the last hour researching all the cases Sam, Lex and I had supposedly solved and all the people we had supposedly saved over our lifetime. As it turns out, this life came at the cost of all that never happening. Mom didn't die, dad never became a hunter, we never became hunters and so everyone we'd ever saved, ended up dying. Those people didn't deserve to die and no matter how unfair it was, I couldn't pick this life over saving people.

I needed a silver knife and so I had broken into mom's house and was rummaging through her china cabinet, looking for the silver. I heard someone make their way down the stairs and presumed it was Sam. I could see them in the reflection and judging by height, it was Sam. He was holding a baseball bat.

He swung at me, I turned around in an instance and threw him to the floor in one easy motion.

"That's was so easy, I'm embarrassed for you." I breathed hoping he wouldn't turn on the lights.

"Dean? What the hell are you doing here?" he asked as I pulled him to his feet.

"I was looking for a beer." I lied.

"In the china cabinet?" Sam asked turning around and flicking on the light. He noticed the cutlery immediately. "That's mom's silver." He pointed out.

"Sam." I sighed.

"I'm armed, whoever you are." Lex emerged from the kitchen holding a knife. We both turned to look at her in confusion. She was dressed similar to Sam, in her pajama track pants and a top. "Sam? Dean? What are you two doing?" she asked, relaxing when she saw it was us. Her eyes travelled down and she noticed the silver. Great, what was she doing here? How did they both manage to catch me in the act?

"Lex, what are you doing up?" Sam asked her. She kept her eyes on the silver and pointed back to the kitchen.

"James just finished a bottle and I was washing up." She replied. "What's going on?" she asked pointing to the silver.

"Dean... broke into the house... to steal Mom's silver?" Sam half-asked me and half-told Lex.

"It's not what it looks like. OK, I didn't have a choice." I replied as Sam walked up to me.

"Oh really? Why? What's so damn important you gotta steal from your own mother?" he asked. Lex walked closer and put the knife down.

"You want the truth?" I asked them. Lex nodded slowly.

"Yeah, yeah I do." Sam replied. I shrugged, playing off my disgruntled character.

"I owe somebody money." I told them.

"Who?" Lex asked, her eyebrows knitted together.

"A bookie. I lost big on a game, I gotta bring him the cash tonight." I smiled.

"I can't believe we're even related." Sam muttered.

"Sam, I'm sorry." I told him as he looked down, exhausted at my behavior. "I'm sorry we don't get along. And I wish to hell I could stay and fix it. But I gotta do this. People's lives depend on it." I told them as I turned around and picked up one of the silver knives.

"What are you talking about, Dean?" he asked me, now confused. I wasn't surprised.

"Nothing. Forget it. Just uh... hey, tell mom I love her." I told them both as I walked towards the door.

"Whoa, whoa, Dean. Wait." Lex called out as she came to stand beside Sam. I turned to them and smiled. They both looked like my little brother and sister… but they weren't. Somewhere out there, there was a Sam filled with determination and a foul-mouthed Alexis waiting for me.

"I'll see you, Sammy." I said to him. "You too ankle-biter." I looked over at her. They both stared at me in confusion. I opened the door and turned around to look at the house one last time. I was going to miss this.

* * *

I sat in the Impala, still taking in the fact I was leaving this all behind. Suddenly the passenger door opened and Sam got in. No. There was no way I was taking him with me.

"Get out of the car." I ordered, facing him.

"I'm going with you." He told me with determination. Well, I guess he did have that after all.

"You're just gonna slow me down." I argued.

"Tough." He replied like a little bitch.

"This is dangerous and you could get hurt." I said louder and in annoyance.

"Yeah, and so could you Dean." He shot back.

"Sam!" I said, trying to hold in my anger.

"Look, whatever stupid thing you're about to do, you're not doing it alone. And that's that." He said firmly. Out of nowhere, the back door opened and Lex got in. Just freaking great! Sam at least had the strength to fight off a Djinn but without her training, Lex was a real damsel in distress.

"What the hell are you doing?" I asked her.

"Seriously, I'm not just going to let you drive off now." She replied. "You owe money, you've got mom's silver… better three than one."

"Alexis, get out of the damn car." I ordered.

"Oh bite me, wise ass." She shot back.

"Lex, you have a baby." Sam reasoned, turning to face her.

"Yeah and he's upstairs with mom, he'll be just fine." She replied, not budging in her decision.

"I don't understand. Why you two doing this?" I asked, confused.

"Because I like late night drives." Lex answered leaning back in the seat and making herself comfortable. Sam rolled his eyes and sighed.

"Because you're still my brother." He replied. Who knew Sammy still turned out to be kinda awesome?

"Bitch." I shot at him. His face contorted to a little hurt.

"What are you calling me a bitch for?" he asked. Seriously?

"You're supposed to say jerk." I mumbled.

"What?" Lex asked from the back.

"Never mind." I said quickly, starting the Impala and driving off. I glanced in the rearview and watched our house disappear.

* * *

Sam looked down at the brown paper bag between us while Lex leaned her arms against our seat, watching the road ahead of us.

"What's in the bag?" Sam asked. I wasn't going to tell them there was a jar of lamb's blood in there.

"Nothin'." I replied, keeping my eyes on the road.

"Nothin'?" Sam asked.

"Yeah, nothin'." I replied again, knowing what was coming next.

"Fine" Sam grabbed the bag and began opening it.

"Is it food, because I'm getting hungry." Lex piped in.

"You don't wanna do that." I told Sam.

"Oh really?" Sam asked as Lex leaned closer to see what was inside. He took out the jar of blood and stared at it. "What the hell is this?" he asked with wide eyes. Lex grabbed the jar from him and looked closer at it.

"Blood." I replied.

"Yeah, I can see that it's blood, Dean! What the hell is it doing in here?" Sam asked upset. Lex, being the freak of nature she was, had her eyes glued to the jar.

"You don't really wanna know." I replied.

"No I-I do really wanna know. I really, really, do." Sam replied.

"Are you a vampire?" Lex asked. I turned to look at her, similar to Sam. Did she know anything about vampires or was she throwing guesses into the wind here?

"No!" I replied. "Well you're gonna find out sooner or later. I needed a silver knife dipped in lamb's blood." I told them honestly.

"You needed a silver knife dipped in lambs blood, why?" Lex asked glancing at Sam uneasily.

"Because there's this creature. A Djinn. And I have to hunt it." I explained, full understanding how crazy I actually sounded.

"OK. Um... stop the car." Sam told me.

"I know how it sounds." I clarified.

"Great. Just... stop the car." He requested, taking the blood back from Lex and putting it in the bag again.

"It's the truth. Alright, there are things out there in the dark. There – there – there are bad things. There are nightmare things. And people have to be saved and if we don't save them, then nobody will." I explained.

"Look, I wanna help you, alright. I-I really really do, but you're having some kind of psychotic breakdown so... just-" Sam trailed off.

"I wish." I mumbled.

"Dean, have you had any headaches in the past forty-eight hours?" Lex asked me.

"Don't diagnose me, I'm fine." I told her, looking at her through the rearview. I noticed Sam had started to dial a number. Wow, these two were real uptight when it came to supernatural situations. I rolled down my window, snatched the phone out of Sam's hand and threw it out of the car.

"Oh my god." Lex breathed in disbelief.

"What the hell was that, Dean? That was my phone!" Sam exclaimed as I rolled the window back up.

"I'm not going to a rubber room, Sammy. And we've got work to do." I told him.

"What? I was just trying to help you out, Dean. I don't I don't want you to get yourself hurt." He yelled.

"What? You protect me?" I scoffed. These two could dream on. It was my job to protect them, not the other way around.

"Yeah!" He yelled, freaking out a little. Lex patted his shoulder, trying to calm him down.

"That's hilarious." I chuckled. "Why don't you both just sit tight and try not to get us killed." I told them both. I turned the radio up as the two of them sat quietly back down. They may have been scared but at least they were listening.

* * *

We were finally in Illinois. I had hit the speed and made it here in a record time of five and a half hours, which I was impressed with. I pulled up to the abandoned warehouse where I last remember being before all this reality change stuff happened. Sam and Lex were asleep, neither of them making it awake past Kansas City. I took my flashlight and shone it on Sam's face which in turn made him jump awake.

"Ankle-biter." I said loudly and watched in amusement as she sat up in shock.

"Where are we?" Sam asked squinting. I looked at the warehouse again.

"Well, we're not in Kansas anymore." I smiled at Sam and he didn't react. "Illinois." I told them

"And you think something's in there?" Lex asked from the back.

"I know it is." I replied.

"Well there better be. I can't believe there is an actual state separating me from my child." She rubbed her eyes.

"Come on." I got out of the car, ready to kill this sucker of a Djinn.

* * *

Okay, I really wanted my old brother and sister back because the pair I was walking with, they were a bunch of pussies. Lex actually jumped at her own reflection and the whole time, all they could do was tell me how bad of an idea this was. None of it was helping. I shone the flashlight ahead of us, trying to remember the path I took.

"See? There's nothing here, Dean." Sam pointed out as we walked down the hall. Lex followed behind me and ahead of Sam, refusing to be in any other arrangement. We turned a familiar corner.

"Look, Carmen's gotta be worried sick about you, Dean. Come on, let- Let's just go." Sam suggested.

"Shh!" I stuck my hand out as the three of us stopped. There was the sound of someone moaning or crying.

"What the hell is that?" Lex asked. I turned to look at the fear in their eyes. It took me back years ago to when all Sam and Lex did was rely on me to protect them from everything bad in the world. Since then the two of them had grown up and taken danger face on but not these two.

"Stay behind me and keep your mouth shut." I told them, before walking ahead. We entered the large room to see bodies hanging from the ceiling… bodies without flesh, connected to empty blood bags. Lex put her hand over her mouth and held onto Sam in shock.

"What the hell?" Sam asked quietly. I flashed the light to my right to see the girl who'd been appearing to me. I recognized her from the university and the restaurant. The blood bag next to her was relatively full. Her eyes were open and I wasn't sure if she was dead.

"It's her." I told them. Sam moved forward and began looking at her tied wrists. Lex almost moved forward to untie her but I stuck my hand out, stopping her. The girl began making sounds and Lex's eyes filled with tears.

"Let me help her." She begged.

"Dean, what's going on?" Sam asked louder. I grabbed him as I saw the Djinn's shadow on the other side of the plastic divider.

"Shh!" I grabbed Lex too and made them move back behind the shelves so they were out of sight. The Djinn walked slowly out and approached the girl who was still whimpering.

"Where's my dad? I wonder how..." she looked to Djinn. "Don't." she begged moving her feet away from the Djinn but it didn't do any good. She was still crying. "Where's my dad?" The Djinn touched her face slowly.

"Sleep." It breathed to her. A blue flare started from his fingers and travelled through her cheek. Her eyes glowed a bright blue. "Sleep." It said again and her head fell forward, eyes still open. It rested its face against her suspended arms and breathed heavily, stroking her arm. It reached out for the blood bag, pulled out one of the straws and began drinking her blood from it.

Sam retched in disgust and I acted without thinking. I grabbed the both of them and shoved them beneath the stairs as the Djinn spun around and made its way to where the sound came from. It searched around for a while before walking up the stairs and out to another room. Sam and Lex were both visibly upset.

"This is real? You're not crazy?" Sam asked, breathing heavily. That wasn't important at the moment.

"She didn't know where she was. She thought she was with her father." I stated; which made me question a lot of things.

"We have to help her." Lex whispered to Sam. I walked around the stairs and towards the woman, staring at her lifeless body.

"What if that's what the Djinn does? It doesn't grant you a wish, it just makes you think it has." I said to myself. This Sam and Lex seemed as real to me as this girl's father was.

"Look man. That thing could come back, alright?" Sam urged me to leave. My mind flashed to me hanging by ropes, similar to this girl and suddenly I had trouble breathing.

"What if I'm like her?" I asked with realization. "What if I'm tied up here someplace? What if all this is in my head? I mean it could, you know, maybe it gives us some kind of supernatural acid, and then just feeds on us slow." The whole concept made me feel sick.

"No. Dean, that doesn't make sense. OK?" Sam reasoned as he kept glancing around. I kept my eyes on the girl in her vegetative state.

"What if that's why she keeps appearing to me? She's not a spirit. It's - it's like more and more like I'm catching flashes of reality." I turned around looking for myself now. "You know, like I'm in here somewhere. I'm - I'm catatonic, and I'm taking all this stuff in but I, but I can't snap out of it."

"Yeah, OK, look. Yeah, yeah, yeah, you're right. I was wrong. You're not crazy but we – we – we need to get out of here. Fast." Sam rambled as he pulled Lex and I along with him. I jerked my arm away from him and they both stopped, looking at me with quizzical expressions.

"What?" Lex whispered.

"I don't think you're real." I told them. Sam sucked in an agitated breath and put his hand to his head in irritation. Lex stepped forward and grabbed my hand.

"Do you feel that?" she asked, squeezing my hand. She grabbed my arms roughly. "You feel this? I'm real. This is not an acid trip. We're real, and that thing is gonna come down here and kill us for real. Now please." She begged me. It was tempting, but I couldn't believe them.

"There's one way to be sure." I said as I pulled out the silver knife. Sam and Lex both took a step back.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. What are you doing?" Sam asked with his hands up in defense.

"It's an old wives' tale. If you're about to die in a dream, you wake up." I told them.

"No, no, no, no, no, no, no. That's crazy. Alright?" Sam said quickly, very aware of the knife. These two weren't my brother and sister… I knew that now.

"Maybe." I replied. Lex took a step closer towards me.

"You're gonna kill yourself-" she started. I put the knife in my other hand stopping her in her tracks. "OK." She said weakly, stepping back.

"Or I'm gonna wake up. One or the other." I told them.

"OK. This isn't a dream, alright. I'm here, with you, now. And you're about to kill yourself, Dean." Sam said straightforwardly.

"No, I'm pretty sure." I paused. "Like, ninety percent sure. But I'm sure enough." I turned the knife on myself, ready to stab.

"WAIT!" Sam yelled. Something white caught the corner or my eye. I turned my head to see mom in the same white night gown she was in the night she died, walking towards me. They were pulling out the big guns.

* * *

**Lex**

Sam and I turned the corner inside the warehouse and entered a large room. That's when we saw Dean. He was hanging from the ceiling by ropes, his face was drained of blood and he was barely alive. I rushed forward, before Sam could get to him, and lifted Dean's face, praying that he was alive.

"Dean?" I asked, allowing him to lean on me.

"Dean!" Sam held the other side of Dean up and shook him a little. I was not going to lose my brother to a Jeanie. I was not going to lose my brother period.

* * *

**Dean**

The whole family was here.

"Why'd you have to keep digging?" Sam asked me. "Why couldn't you have left well enough alone?" I looked to Lex. "You were happy." He said quietly. Mom stood in front of me.

"Put the knife down, honey." She said softly. Oh god, I didn't want to leave her. Everything we did, was for her and she was here now. I could finally have her back.

"You're not real" I told her, holding in the tears. "None of it is." I said looking up at Sam and Carmen.

"It doesn't matter. It's still better than anything you had." Mom said.

"What?" I asked.

"It's everything you want. We're a family again." She explained. "Let's go home." She said softly. It would be so easy to just say 'yes' and walk away from hunting; to walk away from all the crap I'd been through. It would be so easy to embrace this life and let it takeover; this life where Sam and Lex were safe and happy. I looked at Lex and her lighter complexion. She was beautiful regardless but this wasn't her… she was waiting for me in the real world ready to bust me for hunting the Djinn alone. I couldn't leave her and Sam in the real world; they needed me. I shook my head at mom.

"I'll die." I told her, my voice breaking. "The Djinn'll... drain the life out of me in a couple of days." I said it like she'd actually understand what I was going through.

"But in here, with us. It'll feel like years. Like a lifetime." She smiled in return. I looked over at Sam who nodded, encouraging me to listen to mom. "I promise." She held my face and all rationality left me. It left me in an instance and all I could see was her… the one thing I had wanted all my life. I looked down at her, ready to do whatever she wanted. "No more pain." She stroked my cheek and I felt her warmth. "Or fear. Just love and comfort. And safety. Dean, stay with us." She stroked my cheek again and I leaned into her hand, closing my eyes and hoping I'd never forget this moment. This was all I had ever wanted. "Get some rest." She whispered. I missed her so much… so much.

"You don't have to worry about Sam anymore." I looked over to Jess who walked forward. "You get to watch him live a full life." She said softly.

"Lex is happy." Riley said from beside Jess, with James in his arms. "She's here with you and she has a family of her own. What more could you want for her?" he asked. Mom stepped away and Carmen walked up to me, taking my face in her hands and kissed me. She was perfection and I didn't want to leave her.

"We can have a future together. Have our own family. I love you, Dean. Please." She asked, staring at me with those sparkling eyes. I felt I was losing grip… it was slipping right out of my fingers. Sam and Lex walked forward.

"Why is it our job to save everyone? Haven't we done enough?" Sam asked. Lex's expression made her look like she was four again and I was ready to drop the knife. I was ready to leave it all behind.

"Dean," she asked desperately. "I'm begging you. Give me the knife." I couldn't. I couldn't leave the real Sam and Lex alone. They needed me in the real world… I looked at them, my vision blurry and backed away, averting my eyes. I had to go and I had to go now. I looked up at Sam and Lex.

"I'm sorry." I whispered. I thrust the knife into my stomach and tasted the blood in my mouth. The pain was blinding and I hoped there really was a Sam and Alexis waiting for me on the other side.

"DEAN!" I heard. "Oh God. Come on." I was being shaken. "Hey. Wake up. Wake up, damn it!" It sounded like Sam. I grunted a little as my eyes began focusing.

"Hey. Hey." Lex said from beneath me as she held me up.

"Ahh... Auntie Em. There's no place like home." I muttered and Lex reached up, working on the ropes.

"Easy there Dorothy." She whispered.

"Thank God. Thought I lost you for a second." Sam said, pulling the tube from my throat.

"You almost did." I replied in a croaky voice. Lex was still cutting through the ropes.

"Yeah, not on my watch." She mumbled. I winced in pain as Sam reached up and tried cutting through the other side of the rope. I looked up in time to see the Djinn appear behind Sam.

"SAM!" I yelled. He spun around and swung at the Djinn with the knife. Lex exhaled as she cut the last of the ropes and tried to keep me up as my knees buckled. I got off her and stood on my own as she moved forward at lightning speed. The Djinn had Sam by the throat and was about to touch him with the blue lighted hand. Lex didn't wait; she grabbed the knife and pierced its heart from behind. Its head fell forward and when Lex pulled the knife out, it fell to the ground.

"Bitch." She panted.

* * *

**Lex**

By the time I looked over to Dean, he was on his way to other victim of the Djinn. It was a younger girl and she looked even worse than he did. He put his hand to her neck and I noticed a tear roll down her face. I followed closely behind.

"She's still alive." He looked to the knife in my hand and I handed it over to Sam. He took it from me and reached up, cutting through the roes. I pulled the tubes out of her neck and she collapsed in Dean's arms as soon as the ropes were free.

"I gotcha. I gotcha. We're gonna get you out of here, OK? I gotcha." Dean kept reassuring her. She made some soft wheezing sounds. "I got you." I glanced at Sam as we watched Dean… he seemed pretty torn up. I put the girl's arm over my shoulder and Sam mirrored my actions as we took her weight off Dean. We had to get her to a hospital ASAP. Sam scooped her up into his arms and began walking to the car. I followed Dean to the Impala, the whole time keeping an eye out for any unannounced danger. Dean opened the back door and Sam gently placed the girl down. I went around to the back and took the shovel out of the trunk.

"You guys go ahead, I'll clean up." I told Sam. He nodded in response, shutting the back door to the Impala. "Go." I urged Dean who had paused at the door. He gave me one last look before getting in. The Impala pulled away from me and I walked back towards the warehouse. I'd probably be here for one to two hours digging a hole deep enough to dispose of everything but that didn't matter… Dean looked pretty beat already and Sam just got strangled. I had to do the heavy lifting today.

* * *

I was sitting on a chair with my feet up on the table, throwing gummy bears into the air and catching them in my mouth. I'd spent more than two hours at the warehouse burying the Djinn and two additional bodies we had not seen earlier and then I'd driven out and ditched the stolen car.

I had finally gotten back to the motel to see Dean looking much better after Sam had gotten some food in him. Apart from being dehydrated and starved he was fine so I wasn't too worried about him. His lack of injury allowed me to take a long shower and now, here we were. Dean sat on the bed flipping through a magazine while Sam paced to room. He was on the phone with the hospital wanting to know about the girl we'd saved. They had rushed her to E.R. in time but Dean was hanging on the hope she was okay. For some reason he had gotten attached.

"OK, uh, thank you so much for the update. OK, bye." Sam walked towards us and hung up. "That was the hospital. Girl's been stabilized." He told us. "Good chance she's gonna pull through." That made me feel a whole lot better about this hunt.

"That's good." Dean replied not looking up.

"Yeah. How 'bout you? You alright?" Sam asked as I put my feet down and sat up properly. Dean cleared his throat.

"Yeah, I'm alright." He paused. I didn't think he was but I wasn't going to pry just yet. Dean had a cooling period of about a week before he opened up and I didn't want to be on receiving end of his anger by pushing any earlier. "You two should have seen it. Our lives. You were such a wuss." He directed at Sam who smiled in response. We did tease Sam for being so in touch with his feelings but I had never pictured him as a downright baby. Given the right circumstances, he could do some pretty risky stuff, even more dangerous than what I usually did.

"So we didn't get along then, huh?" Sam asked. Apparently they weren't the best of friends in this alternate reality of Dean's. I was a tad annoyed because Dean had a whole lot to say about Sam and close to zilch to say about me.

"No." he looked up at me. "But you… you managed to make things work for you." He shook his head. "Only you." He muttered.

"And I was living with mom?" I asked, secretly overjoyed at the thought. Dean looked up suddenly and then nodded.

"Yep, just you and mom." He replied. I'd love to have mom all to myself… if there was one thing I wanted, it was her. Dean muttered something under his breath and I caught 'too young' and 'uncle'.

"I thought it was supposed to, to be this perfect fantasy." Sam pointed out, distracting me.

"It wasn't." Dean replied with his head down. "It was just a wish. I wished for mom to live; that mom never died, we never went hunting and you and me just never uh... You know." He told Sam. I wasn't all that surprised… it's not like Sam and Dean had that much in common, but that's what made it perfect. They were individuals and you wouldn't want in any other way. What would be the fun in that?

"Yeah. Well, I'm glad we do. And I'm glad you dug yourself out, Dean. Most people wouldn't have the strength, they would have just stayed." Sam said softly.

"Yeah... Lucky me." Dean replied with a hint of sarcasm as he got up and walked over to me. "I gotta tell you though, man. You know, you had Jess. Mom had…" he paused and looked over at me as he leaned against the table. "…mom was gonna have grandkids..."

"Yeah, but... Dean... it wasn't real." I reasoned.

"I know." He said knowingly and I noticed the longing in his eyes. "But I wanted to stay. I wanted to stay so bad. I mean, ever since Dad... all I can think about is how much this job's cost us. We've lost so much. We've... sacrificed so much." He said, his voice breaking slightly.

"But people are alive because of you." Sam counteracted. "It's worth it, Dean. It is. It's not fair, and... you know, it hurts like hell, but... it's worth it." Sam said quietly. He was right… the feeling we got every time we saved an innocent person made all the shit worth it.

"Hey." I nudged Dean's leg and glanced over at Sam. "We're still here." I pointed out and Sam smiled. "And you're not getting rid of us that easy." I teased. My words had no effect on him which only made me realize how good it had been for him in that alternate reality.

I didn't know how to fix this.

* * *

**Dean**

I had sent out Lex to get food. I didn't want to accidently open my mouth and let something slip about her life in the Djnn's dream. There was no way I was going to tell her that in my alternate reality, she was older, married and a mom. Just thinking about it made me queasy. I flipped through the pages of the magazine, trying to keep distracted. Sam was on his laptop, preoccupied with research. To be perfectly honest, I needed a good hunt to get my mind off the last few days.

"Okay, seriously, what's going on?" Sam asked out of nowhere. I looked up at him, confused as to when his attention moved to me. He was facing me and expectantly waiting for an answer.

"What?" I asked, narrowing my eyes. He rolled his eyes and glanced at the door before looking back at me.

"You've been acting weird around Lex ever since we found you at the warehouse." He pointed out. I wasn't sure how Sam had figured it out and Lex hadn't but I was glad at the moment.

"I'm fine." I replied, looking back at the magazine. Sam snatched it out of my hand and I looked up in annoyance. "I said I'm fine." I rolled my eyes at him.

"Yeah and I'm short." He shot back throwing the magazine on the table. "Don't give me that bullshit. Usually you're all sunshine and rainbows around Lex but you haven't looked her in the eye since we got you out." He accused. "She's going to figure it out soon and then you're screwed." He told me honestly.

It was true. I was keeping my distance from Lex and she hadn't noticed yet but she would soon and then I'd be left with an emotionally distraught sister and two weeks of the silent treatment. This was becoming damn difficult seeing as every time I looked at her, I saw the older Lex which made the vein in my head throb. I sighed, looking away. I was going to have to tell Sam at some point.

"I lied about what the Djinn showed me." I looked back at him and he didn't seem too fazed just yet. "I lied about Lex." I admitted. "She didn't live with mom." I sat up and moved my legs over the end of the bed. Sam turned so he was facing me.

"Okay, so where did she live?" he asked. I looked up at the ceiling, trying to figure out how to best say this. I couldn't get the words out.

"Never mind." I said, quickly getting up. Sam grabbed my shoulder and turned me around.

"Where did she live, Dean?" Sam asked; confused as to why it was such a big deal.

"With…" I looked around, frustrated. "With her husband." I finally said pinching the bridge of my nose as the headache settled in. "Fuck." I muttered, still not believing it was true.

Sam smiled at me and then nodded his head a little. He thought I was joking and I really wished I was, but it was true. He watched me, a smile on his face and I just stared at him, waiting for it to sink in. His smile slowly fell away as he watched my expression.

Before I knew it, Sam was standing one foot from me, his chair had been flung aside and he looked mad. I got to my feet too and moved back before he swung at me.

"What the hell are you talking about!?" he asked seriously. I didn't know how else to explain it to him but I wasn't surprised Sam was pissed. He grew angrier when I didn't answer. "She twenty, Dean!" he yelled pointing to the door like Lex was behind it. I put my hands up in defense, trying to calm my giant of a brother down. That wasn't even the worst part and I dreaded telling him about James.

"I know." I replied.

"How?" he asked in frustration, putting his hands on his head. I took a breath before continuing.

"Turns out, if mom never died, Lex would have been born seven months after the fire… making her a year younger than you." I told him. "She was twenty three, she was married and-"

"And what?" Sam cut me off looking angrier than before. I felt sick just thinking it.

"And, she had a kid." I replied. Sam's face morphed into something dangerous.

"Like hell she had a kid." He said in a low voice. I sighed, not knowing how long Sam might stay in denial. I was still in it so I didn't have high hopes for Sam.

"Look, just don't tell Lex." I told him. "I don't need her knowing about all that crap and freaking out, okay?" I asked as looked away.

"Twenty-three is still too young to have a kid." He said to himself. That had been my thought as well.

"I know." I said walking to the kitchen. "It wasn't a freaking picnic for me either, Sam. I almost had a heart attack when I saw… it." I said, remembering seeing Lex take James out of the car.

"And who was the guy?" Sam asked. I grimaced, remembering I was supposedly the one that introduced Lex to Riley.

"Mechanic." I answered, pulling a beer out from the fridge. "Riley; he worked with me at the garage." I explained and Sam raised his eyebrows at me. "I know, I know. Apparently it was my doing." I admitted. Sam scoffed as he sat back down.

"Who would've thought?" Sam trailed off. "You said his name was Riley?" he asked me. I nodded in response.

"She was happy, Sam." I told him absent-mindedly. "She was happy and she was safe." Sam began laughing as he walked up to me and I looked at him in confusion. What was so funny?

"Have you met Lex?" he asked, reaching behind me and grabbing water from the fridge. "Does she strike you as someone who likes 'safe'? She practically throws herself into danger for the fun of it. The little monster has never been happier Dean, trust me." He smiled to himself. I guess Lex's dreams were different to mine. "Dean, if the Djinn had gotten Lex, it'd would be this." He pointed to the two of us. "Exactly the way it is… except maybe we'd have a few layers of bubble-wrap around us." He smirked as he sat back down. Was that really what Lex wanted? Our life as it was now? Was she that simple?

I had no idea where Lex got her strength from but sometimes I envied her. If she was content with our life, did it mean she hadn't seen enough of the world to know what the possibilities were?

No. Sam had made sure Lex had every opportunity… he had made it his mission to give her all the options but she had chosen this life. All this time I had thought it was because she felt a loyalty to the family business but maybe there was something deeper at play. Maybe she was the only one of us who truly enjoyed being a hunter and would choose it time and time again.

* * *

**Lex**

Dean had sent me out on the pretense that he and Sam were still 'healing'. I called bullshit but I didn't mind the walk so I went to carry out the difficult task of finding food that would be appeasing to both my brothers. After half an hour I returned, successful, with chicken burgers, fries and of course Dean's pie.

I knocked on the door with my elbow, trying to balance the drinks in the cup holder. Sam opened the door and took the load off me.

"So, when can we leave?" I asked, shutting the door behind me. Dean stood up and walked over to the food.

"What's the rush?" Dean asked. I grabbed my burger and sat beside Sam at the table. I'd forgotten that I hadn't told Dean about my assessment.

"Oh, I have to complete a few practical's on campus in about a week." I explained, biting into the burger. "I need to be dropped off." I explained. Dean pulled another chair and sat with us.

"Explain to me, again, how a degree is going to help you given what we do?" he asked me. When I was making the decision to pursue tertiary study; that had been the biggest question I'd asked myself.

"If all this ever ends," I said referring to the supernatural aspect of our life. "…then I have something waiting for me. Plus, the stuff I'll learn when I specialize in biomedicine is going to help so much when you two get your asses kicked." I replied, smirking.

"You were studying biomed in the Djinn's dream too." Dean said. He hadn't told me that and judging from Sam's expression, he hadn't known that either. "I guess you like the rush." He noted. He was right… I needed to be on the move with an exciting goal otherwise I'd be the laziest person on earth.

"What's the fun without a little adrenaline?" I asked them, reaching for my drink. "Seriously, I don't know how stay at home mom's do it. Spending your days, cleaning, cooking and with a baby on your hip… fuck that." I rambled, taking another bite. I looked up to see Dean smirking at me.

"I know," I winked at Sam, "I'm one of a kind." I praised myself shamelessly. Sam chuckled and Dean looked down in amusement.

"'That you are." He muttered.

* * *

**Author's Note:**

Hey guys, hope you enjoyed the one-shot!

Remember to check out my story, **Alexis Winchester**, which this one-shot is part of. You can find it by clicking on my profile link!

If you like this one-shot, go ahead and review! If you have any ideas for another one-shot with Alexis, let me know and I'll get to it. I already have an idea for the one-shot that will directly follow this one so keep an eye out ;)

Feel free to message me anytime :)

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Lots of love

Emerald Princess 14


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